Dirigible headlight.



R. L.'HARRIS & E. M. GEESLIN.

DiRlGIBLE HEADLIGHT.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 11. 1917.

1,279,864. Petene-ed Sept. .24, 1918.

E .l. A j m 1] H TY} I; [8 a 2 E la y 6 1 I q o Q 23 l m l G 3 mvsmoa R05er'Z L. Harms wnmgsszs v El 1 M 6 2851771.

Cir-83.96% M 4.

ATTORNEY ms mamas PETERS ca, Punmu'rua. wAsm/vcruu, n. c.

UNITED vsrafrns ROBERT L. HARRIS AND ELI M. GEESLIN, or cARAnAmJTExas.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that We, ROBERT LI HARRIS and ELI M. Gnnsnm citizens of the United States, residing at aradan, in the county of'Mills and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dirigible' Headlights, of which the following is a specification. V

This inventlon is a dirigibl'e, headlight that is' more particularly adapted "for use A upo'n automobiles or self-propelled vehicles, wherein the'usual headlights are directed to throw their beams of light in the directionof travel upon the actuating of the steering mechanism.

One ob ect of the inventlon is to provide an actuating mechanism. for directing the headlight lamps through suitable connections connected with the steering knuckles;

Another object is to provide a bracket composed of two spaced L-shaped members that are adapted to be secured to the front axle, saidlmembers' being apertured'to rotatably receive the supporting stem or standard for the lamps.

Still another'object is t'o'provide a sup ort havin a bearin at one end throu h P b b 2D which one of the levers serving asa vtie bar, is adapt-edto pass A further object'of the invention is to providetwo links pivotally connected together with one of the links attached to standard, said brackets beingspa'ced from each other and attached to the front axle, a connection between the lower end of the lamp stem and the steering arm of'the steering knuckle, said connection including links pivotally connected together, and a support having a bearing through which passes the tie bar of the steering mechanism, said support being secured to the front axle at. a

point intermediate of its ends and between the steering knuckle, and to provide for movement of the bar, said support being slotted to provide for slidably securing the bearing thereto.v

One practical form of construction and assembly on a vehicle will be'describedand v Specification of Lettersi'atent. Application filed admits-17,1m eaa11v5. 2o2,52v.-

illustratedin the accompanying drawings, I

in which: t v

Figure 1 is'a top' plan view of the device as employed upon the'front" axle of an-auto-" mobile, i

Fi is a front elevation of the device as attic ed-to the front axle'of an i automobile, an Fig. 3 is a' detail 'elevationshowing the" lamp stem and one of th'e -brackets'for hold ing the stem. A i 1' In the preferred embodiment about tobe described the front axle'may be generally indicated'at 5 andis provided-at each end with the usualsteering yokes 6 and 7. R0-

tat'ably' secured 'within these yokes are the steering knuckles 8 and9; The knuckle 8 is provided with a steering arm;10, and the knuckle 9 is provided with the steering arm 11. Each end of the steeringarms 10 and 11 are so constructedthat a-tie'bai' 12 may be connected thereto. -The 'usual drag link 13 may be connected to the tie' bar as is usual in steering mechanism construction; 1

The front axle 5 may have connected thereto at a suitable point a support'l lfas shown more particularly in Fig. 1; The support may be "secured to the front axle in' any usual or customary way or in the present illustration a screw 15 is shown' 'as' being a fastening means. 'The'outer or" free end of the support is'provide'd with an elongated slot 16: The 'slotfextends longitudi nally of the su pport and terminates adja cent'oneend ofthe support-l4. Thetie bar 12 is 'adapted-to pass through V a bearing 17- that is suitably c'dnnectedvvith the support 1 1 Amy nsual means may bef mployed to provide this connection b nt intlie present instance it is shown as a headed bolt 18 passing through the slot 16.

The tie' bar 12 is then adapted to slide through-the bearing 17 and by means of the connection afl'orded by the bolt 18 the bearing is adapted to slide longitudinally of the support. This will take care of. the motion of the tie bar and also serve as a" support therefor. V V

The front axle 5 'is' adapted to have mounted thereon and secured thereto, two

brackets.

particularly in Fig. "3.. 7 members are preferably of diiferent sizes These brackets are each formed w of two L-sh'apedmembers as shown ,more 5 These L-shaped' 11 0 These bolts 21 and 22 serve to secure the two L-shaped members on the rear axle adj acent the steering yoke ends;

The transverse portions 23 and 24 are also provided with holes adjacent their outer ends and these holes arepreferably in alinement when the assembled bracket is secured upon the front axle 5. Theseholes serve as bearings for a rotatable stem or supporting standard 25 which carries at its upperend a lamp 26. The stem 25 passes through the transverse portions 23 and 24 as shown more particularly in Fig. 3. The lamp 26 may be of anyusual headlight type as commonly employed upon automobiles.

Connected with the stem 25 is a link 27 which as shown in Fig. 3 is preferably secured above the transverse portion 2 of the lower L-shaped member of the bracket. This link 27 may be permanently secured to the stem 25 in any usual manner or a set screw may be employed to retain the link in a predetermined position upon the stem 25. The other end of the link 27 has a hole therethrough to provide for a pivotal connection 28 with another link29. Theother end of the link 29 is provided with a hole so that it may have pivotal connection at 30 with the steering arm.

As the construction of the bracket and its placing and the two links and their connections are similar only onehas been described in detail. The stem 25, if desired, may have secured thereto a collar 31 so as to more offectively retain the stem in its proper position.

The stems 25, from the construction outlined, are thus shown to be positively connected with thesteering arms carried by the steering knuckle. Any movement of the steering arms tending to change the direction of travel of the road wheels will cause a corresponding movementof the lamps 26.

The pivotal connection 28 between the links 27 and 29 will take care of the change of position of the steering arms as influenced by the steering mechanism. It will thus be seen that the lamps are always caused to point in the direction that the road wheels are caused to take.

If desired the link connection upon one side maybe disconnected and the lamp retained in the stationary position so as to point directly ahead and not be changed by the'change of direction caused by steering. At the same timethe other lamp being connected with the steering arm will illuminate for each change of direction of travel. The device as constructed consists of few parts that are simple and strong in construction and the assembly is one that may be readily attached to an automobilewith little trouble. 7

As the parts are relatively few in number and of simple design which makes for cheapness in manufacture the assembly is not liable to disarrangement or injury through use.

l/Vhat is claimed is A dirigible headlight for automobiles, whichcomprises a lamp bracket attached to the front axle, said bracket consisting of two inverted L-shaped members, the transverse portions of which are spaced apart verti cally and provided with alined bearings near the outer endsthereof, the vertical portions of said members being mounted and secured upon opposite sides of the axle which then serves as a spacing member, a vertical lamp stem rotatably mounted in the bearings of the bracket members, and pivotally connected links, the other ends of the links being connected, respectively, to the lamp stem and to the steering arm of the steering knuckle. I A

In testimony whereof they afiix their signatures in presence of two witnesses' ROBERT L. HARRIS, ELI M. GEESLIN. Witnesses: I

PAUL DAVIS, J. B, HUCKABEE.

. Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

